Review: Potter prequels peter out in ‘Dumbledore’

Time always flew in J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World but it has lately seemed to catch up to the Potter pop cultural sensation. The “Fantastic Beasts” prequels, now up to three with “The Secrets of Dumbledore,” have soldiered on, even if the fever surrounding Pottermania — at least among less diehard Muggles — has dissipated. Grindelwald’s rise has been the overarching drama to the “Fantastic Beasts,” an ominous series framed around the menacing power grab of a tyrant who, with echoes of fascism then and now, wants the magical world to rule over Muggles. Where “Fantastic Beasts” may ultimately reside is in a prequel netherworld — never truly in Potter land but instead in some contrived next-door realm that, at times, seems to exist purely to capitalize on a potent patch of intellectual property. “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore,” a Warner Bros. release, is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America for some fantasy action/violence.